


The Moon's Curse

by Neera Silvertongue (Zesraer)



Series: Once Upon A Time: Successors of Magic [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 05:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1733249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zesraer/pseuds/Neera%20Silvertongue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nyahm is the pirate daughter of Killian Jones. She travels with him and Cora to Storybrooke. Upon entering the town she finds family that she had long thought dead and several unsolved questions about her past resurface. One particular stranger manages to peak her attention, who is the mysterious girl who seems so familiar? Rated Teen and Up for possible language and future themes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hey There Little Red Riding Hood

Nyahm sighs, looking out across the water. She was still stuck on this darn boat, and had no idea why. Both Cora and her father had already left, and it wasn't like she was a little kid anymore. Heck she was twenty, she had earned the right to spend some time on her own. She stepped from her cabin just in time to hear the creak of the deck above, perhaps her father had returned. But the steps were too light, and not wanting to run in to the Cora woman who sent the wolf into a defensive panic, she retreated back into the darkness. Peering through the crack in the door, she spots an unfamiliar face, one that did not belong on the ship. The maiden in front of her was not suited to a life on the seas, she was so delicate, not meant for the tough life of sailors and storms. That only meant one thing, she wanted something and was headed towards Killian's cabin. Nyahm smiled, what better way to prove her worth than stop an intruder intent on stealing her father's goods. She was not disillusioned about her father's career, most of their things were pilfered from various ports, but that swindling took work and she did not want to see it go to waste. A clunk told her that the girl had let the prisoner free, that wouldn't do, but a second pair of footsteps causes her to pause. He was here, no need for her to meddle. A brief nod to his approaching form and she slunk off, ship bound again. Nyahm settles on her bunk and lights a lamp, picking up a notebook in which she was writing, filling with bits of knowledge she had picked up over her travels with her father. She reads through the lore of their world and its secrets trying to ignore the noise from the other room, finally it stops or moves. She takes her book in hand and walks to the stair, taking enough steps to peer over the ledge. A single glance takes in so much, the man standing over her father, wrath in his eyes. The girl clutching that silly scrap of fabric father stole, and worst of all her dad's helplessness as he saw Nyahm's face peering over the edge of the deck. She ducks her head down and stifles a gasp, she was helpless here, she could not help him, his eyes had said as much. All she could do was stifle her sobs as she heard the noises from the deck above. Soon they stopped and again looking over the deck she saw that the intruders had gone. Wordlessly she gathered some medical supplies from the cabins and set to cleaning and tending her father's wounds.  
"Nyahm, never do that again. That man. He is dangerous, he will not hesitate to take you from me. Promise me, if you ever see him you will run."  
"But father…" She hesitates, he was family. The only she had left, she could barely remember her mother, just a smell, a voice, a laugh. He told her stories but after the curse had given up hope of finding Nyahm's mother. It was an unspoken certainty that she had died somehow, under the Curse that had changed their lives.  
"Listen here, as your captain and father I gave you an order, are you disobeying?" His tone was deadly, something she had never heard in the addressing of her before. She nods and shivers. "Of course sir, I should never have questioned you." She finished tending his wounds and rose to leave, his hand whipping out to snag hers. "Get off this ship, he might come back. I don't want you here, get into the woods, you are smart enough to live there. I don't care where just stay safe." Nyahm nods, never seeing such fear in his eyes, could this be the man he hunted? The man who had stolen his first love, the one who had made him calloused to her mother, not out of hate but of fear of loving again? She shakes her head and heeding her father's advice went to pack her meager items. In went her journal and some ink, a twinned pair of daggers and some dried rations. She filled her flask with water, also grabbing a few tools from the ship's kitchen and scullery. Lastly she strapped on her rapier, she would not leave the sword her father had given her behind. With one last look she turned and headed into the new world that lay open before her.

Nyahm tried to stay away from the town but she got the feeling the deeper she went into the forest, the more wrong her trajectory was becoming. She halted at the bright orange curved line that ran through the forest, it seemed like a wall was built upon it. The wolf seemed to think so anyway, but no such wall existed. She sighed and back tracked, and finding a hollow tree hides her pack and sword. If she was going back to town, perhaps it was best to blend. She didn't want any unnecessary attention and a new face would be enough of that. She looks up at the sky, at least the stars and moon were the same here. She strolls into town, the skies familiarity a comfort. Her walk had a confidence she didn't feel, a strange sound comes from behind her and she dodges out of the way of a flashing carriage. Noisy thing and such a puzzle. No horses. She follows it curiously, sticking to the edges of the strange black path. Several other strange carriages passed her. She continued on, coming to a huge castle like building, and decided to enter. It was best to know her surroundings after all. Upon entering, a voice caught her attention and she froze, it wasn't possible. Her mother was dead, but eyes turned and standing before her was the face of one she had thought she would never see again.  
The face that stared back at her was blank, worried about something but not recognizing. Nyahm wanted to say so much, but she could barely stop the tears from welling in her eyes. But the woman before her, Red her mother, paid no heed to the young woman standing before her in the shadows of the doorway. Red's eyes were turned to the three patients who had come in with the ambulance. Nyahm recognized her father and tired to move toward him, he was still awake. But a blonde woman got there first, getting between her and her father. This woman was scolding him, and Killian was simply taking it, turning it back in a flirty banter which changed upon the entrance of a worried man. The man's face contorted in anger upon seeing Killian and Nyahm shrunk back again, making herself as small as possible.  
"Mr. Gold, please refrain from attacking my patients." A voice calls out and the crowd separates allowing a man in white to pass through. "We understand your anger but I did take a doctor's oath" The man she took to be Gold grumbled but backed away, choosing not to face the crowd. The blonde woman gives instructions to one of the others, "Keep Hook's location secret, we need no more trouble tonight" Nyahm shivers, this man Gold wanted her father dead, and wouldn't hesitate to kill her to get his revenge. She needed to get somewhere safe soon, but she needed to know her father was all right. After everything had died down, she stepped past the group and followed the blonde woman hoping to find her father.  
The woman enters a room, and Nyahm holds back but smiles upon hearing a voice. "Hello beautiful, what a pleasant surprise. I take it you aren't going to let that Crocodile in here"  
"Cut the crap Hook, where is Cora?" The woman's voice echoes out of the room, and Nyahm flinches, glad it was not her in the room with the woman. She had never much like interrogations. She sighs this would be a while. She heads back to the main room, and on her way out bumps into someone. Looking up she sees the angered and sad eyes of the Crocodile looking down at her. "I apologize sir, I didn't notice you" her voice is tinged with fear. He looks at her, seeming to take in her soul but shakes his head. "Run along dearie, no need for you to get yourself into trouble tonight. A hospital is no place for you to be." She nods and quickly moves around him into the lobby which had taken to chaos. Apparently the doctor had disappeared, and Red had gone looking for him. Nyahm shakes her head, so much for getting to know her mother. At least the hospital seemed to have a decent place to sleep. She curled up on one of the chairs and tried to catch some sleep before she had to move.


	2. In All My Dreams I Drown

_Water that was her first thought, she was surrounded by water. It lapped at her clothing hungrily, seeming to want to consume her. Storms boiled in the clouds above but somehow the moon shown through as bright as it ever was. It seemed to watch her, coldly, expectantly. She tried to tread the water beneath her, search for a ship or some debris. All she wanted to do was survive, to beat the hungry water. The moon seemed to laugh, to chide her forward, but secretly snicker at her futile efforts. Her eyes scanned the rolling waves, desperate to find something that could save her, break the water's hold. Her eyes would fool her finding a seemingly solid object, and upon reaching a hand to grab such sights, she found there only to be water and liquid where lifesaving objects had been. She screamed in frustration, tears falling and adding their bitter salt to the sea surrounding ocean gnashed and moaned, twirling and spinning Nyahm within its clutches. Then sudden pain, a hurt in her side, halting her efforts to fight as she gasped to fill her winded lungs. Hands scrabble against splintering wood, and despite bleeding fingers she grabbed on holding the life bearing board close. The moon seemed to chuckle at her success, seeming to know what was coming, that the triumph that seemed so big now was merely a small detour and she still had to face much to come._

_As she clung to the board salt burned her eyes, and even the tears she shed could not purify them. Half blind, she felt the water rise beneath her, ever hungry ever pulling. There is white froth surrounding her, glowing like bone in the light of the moon. Death surrounded her as she clung to the small bit of life, knowing it wouldn't hold forever. The wave crested and her blind eyes saw the wreckage before her. Blood scent burned through the scent of salt, the wolf wanting to howl at the loss. The sole thing remaining of the Jolly Roger was the slowly sinking mast, the waves having swallowed everything else, she could only pray the others had made it to the life boats but the moon's cruel gaze seemed to give her the answer. A scream bubbled up and this time, she couldn't hold it back, it burst forth in a feral rush, not human nor wolf but some creature that only knew loss and pain. Her father had drown, the only family she had ever known- his crew- gone. And no way to mourn, no way to find closure, the ocean had even taken that. There was no way to put them at peace. With her unleash of pain, the skies darkened again, a flash of lightning struck the mast, sending wood splintering in all directions. The sharp bite of pain within her arm reminded her that she was alive, not in some purgatory of emotional pain. But how she wished for the abyss of black, of this hell at sea to be over and done. She gritted her teeth, this was not what her father had taught her, he would want her to live, to continue his work, his need for vengeance. She had no right to give up not now, she had defied the moon before why not now._

_Nyahm shudders, the ocean's freezing bite chilling her skin, her anger came too late to warm her. The wolf wished for its fur, and Nyahm wished she could give in to that wish. But the moon was not on her side tonight, jeering at her from above. She could only hope she could last until the sun's rays, let its power light her body and warm her moon chilled skin. She glared at the moon, challenging it to do its worst. The skies responded with flashes, rain lashed her face, but it refreshed her as well. The scent of new rain brought with it the scent of land, cleared away the burning of the salt. This storm released something primal within her, and this time instead of a scream a laugh erupted. Her eyes glared up at the moon defiantly, just a few mere hours until the sun brought with it new hope. The moon grows larger, as the storm picks up intensity blotting out the stars above, seeming to nibble away at her hope, showing its strength in the face of a mere mortal. She knew that she couldn't win, in the very back of her mind, the water would take her, eventually but every pirate knew that and they could only pray that it waited until their time._

_A light to the east brings hope, the moon had passed its zenith, daybreak was near and with it the hope of finding land and survivors. Frozen fingers gripped the board, hoping to survive, the strength renewed. But then a wave whips forth from the depths of the sea. It pulls at her, tearing fingers from wood, dragging flesh painfully from the grasp of a chance at life. It pushes her down, deep into the eddying abyss. The sun's rays follow her, dancing across bubbles, gold and silver adding to the black. A flash, a hand on hers dragging her away from the depths, snap fangs closing upon it as two wolves circle her, driving back a man with a sea green beard and the nymphs around him. They dance around her protecting her, but her descent among the bubbles continues. Then, no more bubbles, and one final feral scream to which the wolves add their howls as the trio drifts lower, deeper toward black._


	3. Mysterious As the Dark Side of the Moon

Nyahm wakes up the bitter taste of fear and brine on her tongue. A hand lifts from her shoulder, where it had lain gently shaking her from her slumber.

"Are you alright dear? We hadn't noticed you before you started screaming. That must have been some dream." Red's face peers down at her, the woman sitting beside Nyahm. "You look as though you saw a ghost, or dreamed one. Come on, sit up gently. The hospital is no place to sleep. We can find you a place in the inn."

Nyahm nods and sits up, looking over the cluster of faces around her, feeling slightly claustrophobic. How many of these people would judge her due to her parental heritage, how many hated her father already due to his alliances? She rises to follow Red, unsure how to interact with her mother. She walks tentatively, looking back at the group behind them, the group that was tittering with questions by the look of their faces.

Questions could wait however, as two figures enter the waiting room none to quietly. Nyahm's face contorts in distaste upon seeing Cora, the woman beside her having no meaning. The wolf rises with the bile in her throat, her distaste an almost physical force. She glares at the older woman, who only gives a cold smile to her former traveling companion then raises her eyes to Red knowingly.

Nyahm holds back a snarl and turns to the frozen Red, "You said something about a room?"

These words seem to unfreeze the rest of the room including her mother "Of course sorry." Red shrugs and begins to lead her toward the exit, having mixed feelings regarding the leaving of a potential situation. Nyahm notices and pauses waiting for her to decide.

Cora and the woman beside her walk further into the room, and as Cora crosses Nyahm's path, Nyahm's lip curls slightly. She turns to whisper in Cora's ear, her voice carrying further than expected. "Liar!" She says, knowing Cora would understand exactly what she spoke of. Those that had heard turned, surprised that she knew the woman who stood before them, the devil in their midst. Nyahm then turned, she could find the inn on her own, forget her mother. Cora was unnerving and she would do something stupid if she didn't get out of this place soon.

As she strode out, a hand snagged her arm. She tried to shrug it off, not wanting to interact with anyone but the grip was firm. Nyahm whirls, ready to give whoever was stopping her a piece of her mind only to find the woman who had entered the room with Cora. Her gaze stopped any outburst, the woman looking sternly at Nyahm.

"How is my mother a liar?" she says dangerously "And how do you know her?"

Nyahm freezes glad that the low tones of the conversation were not carrying to the room next door. This woman was dangerous, it was clear. After all she was Cora's daughter, and it wasn't safe to mess with anyone who meddled with magic. "I only mean to keep to my own business ma'am. I don't give a skiff's chance in a hurricane what you two are doing but I don't appreciate your mother lying to my father and me. It was underhanded and she probably would have gotten here even if she had told the truth. And he wouldn't be gunning for you for my mother's supposed death that way. Seems kinda counter intuitive if you ask me. Now let me go before you cause a scene. I don't give a shit who you are and I am exhausted. If you want to speak with me find me tomorrow. I can't promise cooperation, I have my own reasons for being here but if our goals cross maybe just maybe I will help. Keep your mother away from me though, I don't trust her. Her word has proven to be unreliable at best." Nyahm sneers before breaking her arm from the woman's grip, just in time to see her mother come up behind them.

"Madam Mayor." She nods her head "Is there a problem here? I was just showing our new guest to the inn."

"None at all Ruby, none at all. I was just getting to know our new guest." Regina smiled as she watched the pair walk off towards Granny's.


	4. Chapter 4

_Nyahm's POV_

Red, no Ruby as she goes by here leads me down the black stone path. I had thought her dead for years and now here she is before me and I don't have a word to say. How do I approach someone who probably has thought me dead and gone for years? Does she even remember the daughter that she left behind? She is all I have to cling to in this new world with my father locked up and I have no way of knowing if she is a solid foundation or not. Every time I want to ask her something, I cannot get the words out of my mouth. I don't know why she left us, left me. Memories from the little time I had spent with her were blurred, perhaps what I had always taken for love or a gentle touch in them did not contain the feelings I associated with the action. Ruby was young, I could see that, perhaps she had been scared finding herself with a child when she had barely stopped being one. I would have been, and now when faced with her daughter, she had no idea of who or what I was. I had aged while she had stagnated in Storybrooke, I hadn't spent all my time in Neverland. Father had spent a great deal of time there but I was a little more restless. He had permitted my occasional absences over the years he stayed there. Those small absences managed to add up, especially when time moved differently between the realms we visited. Killian was still the man she remembered, it was just me who was different.

Ruby turns to me, a questioning look on her face "I know this is probably none of my business but who are you? I don't recognize you from either here or…" at this she pauses. I sigh "Or the Enchanted Forest? Yea I know about it. I may not have been a denizen of it in the past few years but I lived there before the Curse. My father, Killian, and I traveled. A lot. He wasn't as world bound as the rest of you were. He escaped the Curse that befell the rest of the Enchanted Forest and he brought me with." I notice her breath catch at the mention of my father's name, I don't think she made the connection between us yet but there were memories there. Enough to cause a reaction at least, one that seemed hurt as well. I was confused, how could both her and my father be so wounded, hadn't she left him. Abandoned me? Maybe there was more to the story than I had originally thought. Damn that no one gave me the full truth.

I look her in the eye, trying to analyze her pain. "My father hurt you didn't he? I recognize that look in your eyes, he gets the same look when he talks about my mother." I say it, hoping it would jog her memory. Maybe a few words would bring visions of her daughter to her mind.

"I am sorry Miss…" she pauses and waits for my answer.

"Nyahm, Nyahm Jones." I give her part of my name, no need to startle her now. She might freeze up, try to shelter me. "Killian's first mate and wolf of the sea."

Ruby stares me down, noting the last comment. I shrink under her eyes and realize that I may have said too much. "Wolf you say? How does a girl like you earn such a nickname?"

"Fighting prowess, I fought tooth and nail. Very few could match my ferocity and skill with a blade, after all I learned from the best. I earned that nickname and it was one of the most feared within our range." I give off my best insulted demeanor, no need for her to catch my bluff.

"Cool off, no need to get defensive. I am sure you earned that title and earned it well," she pauses before continuing. "I assume I owe you an answer, your past for mine. I am sorry to tell you this, but your father is not the perfect man you think he is. I loved him and had thought that he loved me. He was such a gracious gentleman, ever conscious of me. But one day he left without a trace, and I never heard from him again. A few months later I found out I was pregnant with a child. I was but a child myself and couldn't handle the responsibility of raising it. So after the child, a girl, was born, Granny took her to a port where I knew your father made birth and…" Her eyes go wide realization dawning, her mind putting together the pieces I had given her.

But we had reached the inn at this point, and before she could stop me I bolted inside. I wasn't ready to have a heart to heart with mom just yet. I look around for a moment before noticing an older woman watching me. I smile, "Good evening. I am looking for a room."

The woman nods, and hands me a key. "You can settle your bill in the morning."

I turn to leave and the woman calls out from behind me, "Have you seen my granddaughter?" So this was Granny, more family.

"She brought me here for a room, but I left her outside." I push back the curtain on the window. "Looks like she is gone now, but there was quite some drama going on at the hospital when we left. Perhaps she went back there." Granny nods and I turn, heading upstairs. I take the clunky key that was handed to me and unlock my room. Fastening the lock behind me, I lie down on the bed inside and try to get some sleep. Praying to the Gods that this time it is peaceful.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of a series revolving around the younger generation of the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke. Nyahm is the daughter of Killian Jones and Ruby Lucas. She was raised in Neverland, as opposed to Lyra Mills and Ai Gold. Their stories will be linked together, but each will cover different events. This particular story covers the second half of season two (( Post "Cricket Game" )).
> 
> Sins and Echoes


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